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I think Benson is a middle six guy for ceiling with best case being second line. His skating is what keeps him from being top line guy. He is a tenacious forechecker that will only get better as he get more years in. Great awareness for a young player. Definately plays how the team should play vs how they play now. Works hard every shift. His weaknesses, outside of skating seem to be experienced/coaching based. Where to be in own zone. Backchecking to wrong place. Being 18 and playing against men lol. Excited to watch him develop. When we rank guys on potential it is not where they fit in on Sabres. The best players in the league are the top line guys. Mcdavid, Mathews, Crosby, Mackinon, Panarin, Barkov, Kucherov, Point etc... His potential of being a second line guy is great. Especially at number 13 pick Sabres have exactly one top player like that on the team in Dahlin. Sorry if this is stream of consciousness, but I stayed up hours past bed time to watch bills trade back. Woke my wife up with a maniacal laugh when I saw we traded out of 32....

3x3.5M (1.17M AAV) for a guy who was not in the league till mid year? I am 52 and out of shape, Can i get 3 for 1.75?

IT always filters out that so and sao was approached by a team leader. Either because other players are happy it happened or the player who was approached complains about it. I do wonder how much was coaching. HE needs a ton of coaching to meet his potential

if they stay in buffalo, there is no way they have appreciated that much. Market is too small... If sold for a higher multiple it is to move them and avoid the franchise fee. They are not worth close to a billion in our market. Pittsburgh sold for 900 million, and a good chunk of that was the real estate around the new and old rinks. Fenway group was going to walk away without that included.

They should have made the playoffs. Poor coaching account for more than the difference in us missing out. If we had an average power play we would have made playoffs. Never won 4 games in a row. Woefully unprepared most nights. Each night in NHL you prepare for your opponent. What matchups will work and which will not. What to Watch for in their breakout, in your d zone etc... We were not doing that. If you watched closely at home, granato would not utilize last change. He would change at same time or before the other team. Idiocy. At least make it seem like you are concerned with other team and matchups. Other teams were prepared for us. Forecheck hard because as soon as d gets possession sabres forwards leave the zone. pressure d into bad pass and watch for d to d behind the net. If you are carrying puck from neutral zone hold it as any backchecking is occurring they go to wrong player and the D will back up into the goalie before they will step up. Other teams easily pushed us around and when that happened team disappeared. There was one game I think against Pittsburgh where we started off great and had a lead. Pittsburgh started getting involved after whistle and pushing sabres around. Game was over then. We wilted. Can we please put to bed the idea Okposo was some great leader? He has barely seen the playoffs in his career. He was a mediocre player his entire run in buffalo. You never heard anything about him taking players aside and letting them know play was unacceptable.

the evidence says otherwise.

there is no question Pegula wants to sell the Sabres. Rink falling apart, minimized expenses at every level, broke apart integration with Bills, complained to multiple sources how he lost 300 million the first ten years he owned Sabres, shows little interest in team, hires unqualified people etc...

Dont crush my dream that fast!!!!!!!!

what a lot of us were saying for Granato era. Players need to be held accountable by coaches and teammates. That is pro sports. Once people are not held accountable things go downhill. It is not even making specific mistakes specifically. It is finishing checks, forechecking hard, playing responsible defense etc... Rewarding players that do that is also part of accountability. I have, what i think, is an irrational desire to have peca as next coach. Combine him with solid NHL veteran asst coaches. Am I crazy for thinking that? I concede i am in general crazy 🙂

You nailed it. Ruff is not a great coach. He is average coach. Always struggled with in game management and match ups. He will always be overrated due to Hasek.

Happy Birthday? What does everyone think about PECA as potential candidate?

I think Thompson is not a center. The draws are a problem enough but he is so out of position in our own zone. Could be coaching like rest of our defensive effort, but jury is still out on if TT is a center. Cozens might be. again the coaching is an issue, but feel better that he might be a center. We need to sign a good center this offseason who can actually win draws.

also leads league in fewest hits per minute played. Tied for 2nd for softest defenseman in front of own net. He has taken massive step back this year. if you are being serious, no take you ever make going forward can be taken seriously

Sabres rated number one. Boston last. Would love to see specifics around sabres prospects. I can share Athletic specifics later tonight

all evidence points to him being a poor coach. Why do you think he is decent?

If only....

we need four new players that are tough to play against and hold their teammates accountable. we are soft as marshmallows. Agree with most of OP. Power needs some coaching. All our D does. We have no plan in d zone. Power needs fewer minutes and a concentration on D zone. With RD and BB now, he will not see the PP.

Murray was not considered up and comer. Somehow dazzled in interview. He was alcoholic as well. If any investigation was done that would have come up... When i asked a scout about him in Tampa when he was hired he said he drinks. A lot. Botts hired Kruger and never overcame that.

The amount of money lost as owner of sabres leaves him not caring. That is the heart of the matter. Losing 10 to 20 million, or more, a year before COVID hit. I don't think he is bad guy, he is just tired of losing that much money. He has received terrible advice over the years that he has chosen to follow. He has hired awful hockey executives who have made the team worse year after year. He needs an experienced hockey person good at organizational building as president of sabres. Revamp all the facets of hockey department. Instead he hired a COO for bills/sabres who cannot help the products. I fear for future of Sabres. Not sure how they stay long term. Economics of Buffalo are bad, and population is dropping. People not attending games for good reason.

Those forwards have taken a massive step back this year with the Granato. If you think he deserves credit for improvement he deserves the blame for the falling play. DC was a 5 to start last year and maybe got to a seven by end of year. He is at best a five now. Krueger was right about skinner. We will not make playoffs with him on team taking up ice time and loafing around. As long as he is here players know there is no need to give max effort. The team has no plan when a game starts. No preparation for the team they are playing. He is terrible at matching lines to the point where i don't think he considers it. Our Dman look like they are not coached at all. No gap control, if there is a defensive zone coverage system, then it changes every shift. Power play is the same thing every game and easy to plan for. He must go. His replacement must be a disciplinarian type coach.

Tuch has played... a lot like Skinner. Leaves zone too early, plays on perimeter, not physical etc... We need guys in room holding others accountable. Have given up hope this coach will ever do that.

he is not a poor back checker, he is a non existent back checker. Our dman struggle with the puck in our zone due to skinner, and others, leaving the zone and not giving options. He is a bad guy, bad player and we have zero chance of making playoffs next year if he is on team. Only thing Kruger got right was Skinner is a dog and should not play. Worst signing in history of Sabres. Worse than Leino. Hopefully they have made decision to buy him out and that is why they are dropping him in lineup. With Quinn back, he should not dress so he does not get hurt and screw up the buyout.

Krebs make little money and plays below avg ice time amount. Skinner is high paid and a negative every time he is on ice. He needs to be bought out after this year. We work under an internal cap anyway and this will not keep us from spending more money.

me too. Sad he passed away. poor one out....

you might be only person outside him family who thinks he is a very good player